Purikura is shortened from the Japanese word Purinto Kurabu, which refers to both a photo booth as well as its product, such as the sheets and stickers. Purikura is also coined from the English word "print club".

Purikura originally developed in Japan during the mid nineties, it immediately became a fad as well as an important feature, of the youth culture in Japan where you see Japanese youths, lugging their precious Purikura photo albums and looking for every opportunity to try a fresh Purikura booth.

Today, Purikura has spread to other parts of the world, especially to the United States, where it is a big fad too.
So you might be asking, what the heck is Purikura? What is all the fuss about it? Well Purikura is all about having fun, taking pictures in a photo booth but mind you, the photos from a Purikura is very different from your regular photo booth because they can double as stickers.

The fun thing about Purikura, is that there are a variety of themes to choose from, whether its backdrops or lighting to even the kind of music you want played during production, all these have made Purikura a successful venture, for both those engaged in the art of Purikura, as well as the entrepreneurs who equally supply and maintain the photo booths.

So you might ask, how does the Purikura work? Well its simple really, all Purikura booths are made to be easy to operate, at most five people can crowd into a single booth, to pose for up to ten different photo sets but remember money must first be entered into the machine, before the selection of your preferred theme, its only then that you can pose away!

Most photo booths offer a choice of lighting effects, borders and even backgrounds but many of the newer machines, now offer additional effects, such as fans and blue screen options. Customers can also be able to choose the number and size of the pictures they want, which will generally be printed out on a glossy 4x6 inch sheet. In some Purikura photo booths, costumes and wigs even offered to aid in the photo-making process.

Now you may be asking, how do I get my own Purikura? Well if you are interested in being a Purikura fan, a trip to Japan for the real thing, should be the in the works because a Purikura photo booth, can be found in almost every corner but if you can’t make the trip just yet, then I suggest that you take a careful look around your neighborhood, cos as lucrative as Purikura is, you’d be surprised to see a Purikura booth quite close to home.